ACTA ICHTHYOLOGICA ET PISCATORIA (2016) 46 (2): 115–118 DOI: 10.3750/AIP2016.46.2.07

NEW RECORD OF THE SPINY PUFFERFISH, TYLERIUS SPINOSISSIMUS (REGAN, 1908), FROM ISRAEL, GULF OF AQABA, RED SEA (: : )

Ronald FRICKE1, 2, Daniel GOLANI3, Brenda APPELBAUM-GOLANI4, and Uwe ZAJONZ5, 6

1Im Ramstal 76, 97922 Lauda-Königshofen, Germany 2Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany [temporarily out of offi ce] 3National Natural History Collections and Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel 4Mt. Scopus Library, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel 5Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Sektion Ichthyologie, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany 6Senckenberg Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrum, Forschungsbereich Ökosystemleistungen und Klima, 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Fricke R., Golani D., Appelbaum-Golani B., Zajonz U. 2016. New record of the spiny pufferfi sh, Tylerius spinosissimus (Regan, 1908), from Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae). Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 46 (2): 115–118. Abstract. The spiny pufferfi sh, Tylerius spinosissimus (Regan, 1908), is recorded for the fi rst time from the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, based on a specimen collected off Eilat, Israel at a depth of 350–400 m. This fi nding also confi rms the occurrence of the in the Red Sea which was previously based on an unsubstantiated record. Keywords: pufferfi sh, new record, Red Sea, Israel, distribution

The spiny pufferfi sh, Tylerius spinosissimus (Regan, The Tylerius Hardy, 1984 is monotypic and 1908), is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacifi c contains Tylerius spinosissimus (Regan, 1904) as the (Regan 1908, Saya-de-Malha Bank; Hardy 1981, off single species (Hardy 1984). It is characterised from other north-western Australia; Kyushin et al. 1982, South China tetraodontid genera, especially from the closely related Sea; Hardy 1984, Alas Strait, off Sumbawa, Indonesia; genus Amblyrhynchotes Troschel [ex Bibron], 1856, by Smith and Heemstra 1986, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; the nasal papilla bearing two nostrils, only the dorsal eye Mohsin and Ambak 1996, Malaysia; Matsuura and Tyler rim adnate, no ventrolateral fold of skin, and the presence 1997, New Caledonia; Shao et al. 2008, Taiwan; Fricke et of well developed upper and lower lateral lines extending al. 2009, Réunion; Larson et al. 2013, Northern Territory, along the body to the caudal-fi n base. Australia; Fricke 2015, Morobe, Papua New Guinea). A specimen of Tylerius spinosissimus from the northern Outside this range, the species was recorded from Red Sea was recently identifi ed in deep water materials of Hurghada, Red Sea by Budker and Fourmanoir (1954: 324, the HUJ collection; it is described in the present paper. as “Amblyrhynchotes spinosissimus”), listing the species The earlier unsubstantiated Red Sea record of this species without any further data. This Red Sea record was cited can now be confi rmed. but not discussed by several authors, but as no specimen On 9 July 1992, a 38.6 mm SL specimen of Tylerius was available and no information about the record had spinosissimus was collected by Albert Baranes off Eilat, been provided, Golani and Bogorodsky (2010: 86) came Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, with a beam trawl at 350– to the conclusion that the record of T. spinosissimus could 400 m depth. The specimen was deposited in the Hebrew not be confi rmed. University Fish Collection and registered under the

* Correspondence: Dr. Ronald Fricke, Im Ramstal 76, 97922 Lauda-Königshofen, Germany, phone: +49 9343 600801, e-mail: (RF) [email protected], (DG) dani.gola- [email protected], (BAG) [email protected], (UZ) [email protected]. 116 Fricke et al. catalogue number HUJ 17441. Counts and measurements along body to caudal fi n, rising high over pectoral fi n follow Hubbs and Lagler (1947); the classifi cation follows and gently dropping under dorsal fi n; mid-dorsal branch Eschmeyer et al. (2016), description details follow Hardy of lateral line above pectoral fi n not meeting in midline; (1981), fi n-ray counts follow Fricke (1983), references second lateral line dropping from behind corner of mouth, according to Fricke (2016). The standard length is extending along lateral region of belly except for break abbreviated as SL the head length as HL. ventral to pectoral fi n. Body spines 2-rooted, well developed and moderately Family Tetraodontidae Bonaparte, 1831 dense, extending dorsally and laterally from before nasal Genus Tylerius Hardy, 1984 organs almost to caudal-fi n base, and extending ventrally Tylerius spinosissimus (Regan, 1908) from chin region to anal fi n. Pectoral fi ns dorsally elongate and rounded; top of base Description of the Red Sea specimen: Proportions given well below lower margin of eye; fi rst ray moderately long; in Table 1 are part of this description. Dorsal-fi n rays dorsal fi n elongate and bluntly pointed, based directly viii, anal-fi n rays vi, pectoral-fi n rays xvi, caudal-fi n rays above vent; anal-fi n base short, anal-fi n rays partly fused; xi. Body elongate, barely fl attened ventrally, tapering to caudal fi n truncate. short, narrow caudal peduncle; mouth small, terminal; Colour after 24 years in preservative (Figs. 1–2): Head lips covered with numerous short papillae; chin lacking; and body brown; lower sides of body and belly pale, nasal organ short, fl attened papilla, set in slight depression scattered with minute dark brown spots; eye dark grey; just forward to eye, distally with 2 moderately separated, fi ns yellowish, caudal fi n distally dark grey. similarly sized opening; eye moderate, round and dorsally Remarks. Tylerius spinosissimus was fi rst described by adnate only, upper border below dorsal profi le, lower border Regan (1908: 253, pl. 31, fi g. 5, “Spheroides spinosissimus”) well above corner of mouth; prebranchial margin smooth. from deep water off the Saya de Malha Bank, western No obvious ventrolateral skin fold; lateral line fairly Indian Ocean (holotype: BMNH 1908.3.23.299). The distinct, encircling eye with anterodorsal branch anterior to species was reviewed and redescribed in detail based on nasal organ but failing to meet in midline, and preopercular the holotype and additional specimens from off Western branch dropping towards lateral limit of belly, extending Australia by Hardy (1981: 313, as “Amblyrhynchotes

Table 1 Meristic data and proportions of two specimens of Tylerius spinosissimus (HUJ 17441, 38.6 mm SL, 9 July 1992, Eilat, Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea; HUJ 19946, 27.3 mm SL, 5 May 2010, Tel Aviv-Ashdod, Israel, Mediterranean Sea) Measurement in mm Proportion in SL: HUJ 17441 HUJ 19946 HUJ 17441 HUJ 19946 Standard length (SL) 38.6 27.3 -- -- Head length (HL) 14.6 11.1 2.6 2.5 Snout to anterior of vent 27.7 19.9 1.4 1.4 Snout to origin of dorsal fi n 27.4 18.7 1.4 1.5 Snout to origin of anal fi n 30.8 20.7 1.3 1.3 Snout to origin of pectoral fi n 16.5 12.6 2.3 2.2 Width at base of pectoral fi n 12.6 5.6 3.0 4.9 Depth from dorsal-fi n origin to anal-fi n origin 5.1 5.1 7.6 5.4 Depth at posterior of dorsal fi n 3.7 4.1 10.4 6.7 Caudal-peduncle length 4.8 6.7 8.0 4.1 Least depth of caudal peduncle 2.8 1.8 13.8 15.2 Maximum length of pectoral fi n 5.9 2.6 6.5 10.5 Length of fi rst pectoral-fi n ray 3.8 0.5 10.1 54.6 Length of longest anal-fi n ray 3.9 3.6 9.9 7.6 Length of anal-fi n base 0.7 2.6 55.1 10.5 Length of longest pectoral-fi n ray 5.1 3.3 7.6 8.3 Length of pectoral-fi n base 3.3 1.9 11.7 14.4 Maximum caudal-fi n length 11.5 9.2 3.4 3.0 Proportion in HL: Mouth width 4.1 2.2 3.6 5.0 Nasal organ length 1.1 0.7 13.2 15.9 Snout to anterior edge of nasal organ 3.3 2.4 4.4 4.6 Posterior edge of nasal organ to anterior edge of eye 0.7 0.7 20.8 15.6 Horizontal eye diameter 7.9 4.3 1.8 2.6 Least fl eshy interorbital distance 1.9 1.9 7.7 5.8 Posterior of eye to dorsal corner of gill opening 5.5 4.1 2.6 2.7 New record of Tylerius spinosissimus from Gulf of Aqaba 117 spinosissimus”). Hardy (1984: 32) placed the species in a separate, new genus Tylerius Hardy, 1984. Budker and Fourmanoir (1954: 324, “Amblyrhynchotes spinosissimus”) were the fi rst to report the species from Hurghada (Egypt, Red Sea) in a species list without a description or supporting specimens in a collection. This record was repeatedly listed by Dor (1984: 253) and Goren and Dor (1994: 74). Golani and Bogorodsky (2010: 86) noted that the species “does not occur in the Red Sea,” and that “Budker and Fourmanoir’s (1954) Fig. 1. Tylerius spinosissimus, Lateral view; HUJ 17441, record is evidently a misidentifi cation of Arothron 38.6 mm SL, 9 July 1992, Eilat, Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, diadematus (Rüppell, 1829).” However, several records of Red Sea; Photograph by Daniel Golani Tylerius spinosissimus from Rhodes (Corsini et al. 2005, Corsini-Foka et al. 2010), Israel (Golani et al. 2011), and Iskenderun Bay, Turkey (Turan and Yaglioglu 2011) in the eastern Mediterranean suggest that the species is a Lessepsian migrant and does occur in the Red Sea. During the examination of tetraodontid fi shes in the HUJ collection, the authors of the present paper discovered a specimen from off Eilat, Israel, collected in 1992 which they identifi ed as Tylerius spinosissimus. The Red Sea record of that species can therefore now be confi rmed; this also represents a fi rst record from Israel and the Gulf of Aqaba, and adds to the knowledge of deep water species of the Red Sea. The species has not yet been recorded from the coast of Jordan (Khalaf and Zajonz 2007), and Fig. 2. Tylerius spinosissimus, Dorsal view; HUJ 17441, is neither present in the German deep-sea expeditions to 38.6 mm SL, 9 July 1992, Eilat, Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, MESEDA I–III and MINDIK (Türkay 1996; Red Sea; Photograph by Daniel Golani fi sh identifi cations see Zajonz 2006, and an unpublished faunal account by Uwe Zajonz). There are slight differences to the specimens described by Hardy (1981), i.e., in the anal-fi n ray number (6 versus 7) and proportions of the caudal peduncle and the snout. Another specimen recently recorded from the Mediterranean coast of Israel by Golani et al. 2011 (HUJ 19946, 1 specimen, 27.3 mm SL, Israel, Ashdod- Tel Aviv, trawl at 120–140 m depth, Dor Edelist, 5 May 2010; proportions see Table 1) shows similar differences to the specimens described by Hardy (1981). Additional material is needed to examine the variability of Red Sea/ Mediterranean Sea populations, and to decide if they are distinct from T. spinosissimus sensu stricto. The presently described specimen was collected with a beam trawl at 350–400 m depth, possibly above Fig. 3. Tylerius spinosissimus, map of the Indo-West sand bottom. The new distribution record of Tylerius Pacifi c, Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean Sea with spinosissimus from the Red Sea adds to the picture of a the known distribution of the species; 1 = new record wide Indo-West Pacifi c and Red Sea distribution range from Gulf of Aqaba; 2 = Egyptian record by Budker and of this species (Fig 3). This deep water species is rarely Fourmanoir 1954; 3 = Other records [Map produced collected, and apparent gaps in the known distribution with QGIS 2.12.2] range probably just refl ect the absence of deep water fi sh collections in many parts of the range. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the Red Sea, other suitable habitats for this species We are grateful to Dr. Albert Baranes (HUJ) for are found throughout the lower continental shelf of the collecting highly interesting deep water materials from main body and the Gulf of Aqaba. The species probably the Gulf of Aqaba, including the specimen of Tylerius dispersed into the eastern Mediterranean Sea through the spinosissimus recorded in the present paper, and to Dr. Dor Suez Canal by means of its pelagic larvae; the existing Edelist for collecting the specimen from the Mediterranean records from three distant areas in the Mediterranean coast of Israel (HUJ 19946). suggest that the species has already established reproducing populations, and additional records are expected. 118 Fricke et al.

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